


The One Where Everybody Finds Out

by WickedHeadache



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Awkwardness, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Pre-Deanoru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 22:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20299219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedHeadache/pseuds/WickedHeadache
Summary: Nico and Karolina find out that their mothers started dating again. With each other.Leslie chuckles. “Oh, you poor thing,” she mocks. “Do you need me to hug it better?”Nico's eyes bulge out. They aren't even trying to hide their flirting anymore. God, that is even worse than the standing five-feet from each other thing they did before. Can they not? Her young, sensitive ears would be very thankful.“I don't think that will be necessary,” her mom says, and Leslie, honest to God,pouts. Tina's lips quirk upwards when she clocks it. “Yet,” she adds.Gross.





	The One Where Everybody Finds Out

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I totally stole the title from Friends.
> 
> Karolina and Nico are 26 y/o here. Which means that, by my headcanons, Tina is 47 and Leslie is 53.
> 
> Some light Senior Deanoru, with pre-Deanoru in the background. Enjoy.

**karolina finds out**

Karolina is tired. She feels sweaty, her shoulders are shrunken from exhaustion, and she's pretty sure she must smell like booze. She probably shouldn't have drunk as much as she did before driving to her mom's, but can she be blamed? She has just broken up with her girlfriend. Her long-term partner. Her better half. Her high school sweetheart. They had been together for ten years, it is only normal for Karolina to be devastated.

The thing is, she has been living with her, in her apartment, and now she's basically homeless. That's why she's knocking on her mother's front door in the middle of the night, tipsy and having cried her eyes out in the way here. She's _ that _ pathetic almost thirty year-old.

She wonders why it takes Leslie so long to open the door at the same time she's relieved that their parents have long since divorced and lived apart. Karolina loves her dad, she really does, and while her mom was the strict parent during her teen years, she is much better at handling Karolina's romantic life messes. She's more forgiving than her dad at her relationship failures, as she understands them better.

Her dad is the kind of guy that believes a woman should be married before her thirties to reach true happiness. It's not his fault, really. He's not a woman. Her mom, having already gotten married before her thirties and found that marriage to be a disaster, has lived through it all and knows better than to pressure Karolina with society rules.

In about everything else, though, Leslie can truly be an asshole.

“Karolina!” Her mom gasps when she spots her on the doorway. Karolina frowns instantly. Not because she's surprised — that was expected — but because her mom is flushed, a bit disheveled, looking at her with wide eyes. “What are you doing here?” Then, she seems to notice her state. “Are you okay?”

“Destiny and I broke up,” she says, a sob caught in her throat.

Leslie's face contorts in sympathetic devastation. “Oh, honey,” she steps forward and wraps her in her arms. Karolina sinks into the embrace and the motherly warm it offers. She's been needing a hug since she left that apartment. Her mom breaks it, though, scrunching her nose in disgust. “Have you been drinking?”

Karolina lets out a watery laugh. “Just a bit,” she admits. Before her mother can even answer that, she makes her way into the house. “I thought I could stay here for a while, until I find an apartment.” She turns around to find her mom with a panicked look in her eyes. “That’s a problem?”

“No!” Leslie denies quickly. “Not at all. It's just… I wasn't expecting you and the house is a mess.” Karolina looks around. The room is cleaner than it's humanly possible, but she supposes her mom _ is _ neat freak and this would qualify as mess for her. “And I have to prepare your room. But, of course you can stay. I've missed you.”

Karolina smiles. “Thanks, Mom.”

A door behind her opens. “Les, what's taking you so long? Come back to bed.” A feminine voice says. Leslie looks bewildered over Karolina's shoulder. She turns around. Karolina swears her jaw hits the floor the moment she sees Ms. Minoru staring at her blankly. But what shocks her the most is that the woman is only wearing a long t-shirt. Leslie's t-shirt. “Karolina!”

Karolina has only ever known Ms. Minoru as her childhood best friend's mom and her mom's friend. She was always so cold and distant, yet smiling and charismatic. Always dressing to impress, always in sensible outfits, never in Karolina's mom's clothes.

“Oh, my God,” she can only say.

“What is she doing here?” Ms. Minoru asks Leslie slowly. She doesn't seem self-conscious in the slightest. Karolina would wonder how is she able of it if it weren't for the meltdown her brain was suffering at the time.

“She’s spending the night here. She just broke up with Destiny, Tina.”

“How sad.”

Tina's dark hair is falling over her shoulders and down her back in tousled locks, matching Leslie's hair. “Oh, my God!” She repeats, louder.

“Do you think she knows now?” Tina asks Leslie.

Leslie must be giving the woman an unimpressed look to match the tone of her voice. “I don't know, what do you think?”

Karolina looks at her mom now, a horrified expression of realization in her face. She is definitely traumatized for life.

“Mom, oh my God.”

“Babe, I think you broke her.”

“_I _ broke her?” Leslie rolls her eyes. “You are the one walking around the house in _ that._”

“Please, you love it,” Tina scoffs.

“Not the time, Tina,” she grits out, then turns to Karolina, seemingly nervous.

All she can think about is Ms. Minoru calling her mom _ babe_. Babe! No one has ever called her mom _ babe_. She wants to erase that from her brain. It's _ Ms. Minoru_. Her mom's friend. That was all she ever was. Karolina can’t wrap her head around the idea of ‘maybe they aren't just friends after all,’ and she keeps repeating to herself that Leslie was still with her dad when Tina and her started to be friends, and images start flowing through her head of what it could really be going on that her innocent brain had missed.

She shakes those thoughts away. Blames it on the alcohol in her system. It actually makes a lot of sense that Leslie and Tina would be having some sordid affair, but she reminds herself that her mom would _ never_. She knows better than to think those ridiculous ideas. Yet, she can't help but think back and wonder _ what if_.

“Sweetie, I swear this has an explanation,” Leslie tells her.

“You… and Ms. Minoru…”

“God, don't call me that,” she hears Tina say, who is quickly chastised with a look by her mom.

“You are…”

“It’s fairly new,” she explains. “We were taking some time before going public in case it doesn't work out.”

“Holy shit,” she says then, the verbal confirmation making it all the more real. “You guys are together. Like, for real. Wow.”

“Yes,” Leslie nods carefully. “We are.”

“This is…” She shakes her head. “Wow. I’m- This is- I think this is great!”

“You do?” Her mom says hopefully.

“You do?” Tina says at the same time, only she just sounds confused.

“I mean, it's weirding me out. Like, I'm having an out of body experience right now. I can't feel my toes, though I'm pretty sure that’s more to do with the vodka I drank before coming here and that when I wake up tomorrow with my head splitting in half this is gonna be even weirder. But sure, you deserve to be happy.”

The women stay silent after that, and Karolina isn't sure what she's supposed to say, just that she's tired as hell, both physically and emotionally after having such a draining day. She hasn't been in this house a lot, but she knows it well enough to go on her own to the guest room.

“I’m just gonna…” she trails off, pointing at the room. “I’m tired as hell, to be honest.”

“Right, of course,” her mom says. “We can keep discussing this in the morning.”

“By the way,” Tina stops her before she leaves the room, “Nico doesn't know.”

“Okay,” she nods. It's not like she's planning on meeting her again anytime soon.

**nico finds out**

Sometimes her mom can be a shady ass. The one time Nico decides to surprise her and make something special for her in Mother's Day, she goes and disappear from the face of Earth. She probably even forgot it's Mother's Day. Nico had to use her spare key to find out she wasn't home, had her calls unanswered, and her texts ignored. She should just give up and give her her gift later.

Until she remembers who her mom is friends with. Nowadays, the list isn't as long as it used to, acquaintances being erased from it as she became older and less forgiving with phony people. Tina has been spending a lot of time with Leslie, mostly, so Nico knows it is likely for her to be there.

She goes to her house.

Nico should be less surprised when Karolina opens the door instead of Leslie. It is Mother's Day, after all. It makes sense for her to be there. Still, her lips part as she blinks at the woman. It's been years since she last saw her. School was over and Karolina had been ready to move in with her girlfriend at the time. Some sweet girl called Destiny that Nico had been unreasonably angry with (she was just so annoying, hugging Karolina all the time and taking her to prom and being so damn understanding with everything).

“Hi,” Karolina says, as surprised as she is. “Nico, it's been almost.”

“Yeah,” she says weakly. She's terrible at small talk and doesn't want to waste time with it. “Is my mom here?”

“Yeah, how did you know?” Karolina frowns.

“Our moms are friends,” she says like it's obvious. She guesses that for Karolina it isn't, as she isn't around their parents as much as Nico is. She couldn't possibly know that they are practically besties. “I just figured she's here. Since, you know, it's Mother's Day and I can't leave her gift in an empty house.”

“Oh. Right. Come in.”

Karolina lets her in with a lost look on her face. Nico tries not to stop on why. She gets to the kitchen, where _ her mom_, the woman that hadn't been able to make toast without turning it to coal, is making breakfast. Tina is moving around the kitchen, placing a cup of coffee in front of Leslie, who smiles up at her, before handing her the milk, like she knows this house like she knows her own. She then keeps making french toasts.

French toast after decades of cereal and burned foods every time her dad wasn't around to cook. How hasn’t she noticed this before?

Besides that detail, Nico just rolls her eyes at the scene. They're ridiculous at this point. Breakfast together? Really? And is that Tina's shirt Leslie is wearing? They have reached an entire new level of denial. Nico doesn't even bother on commenting on their gayness anymore, no matter how much she wants them to cut the car and be happy together. It's useless.

“I never thought I'd live to see this,” she enters the kitchen dramatically. “You are cooking.”

“Yes, thanks for pointing out the obvious.”

“And you are not burning it,” she adds. “Not obvious to my poor stomach.”

“Don’t be silly,” her mom rolls her eyes as Leslie laughs.

“No, she's right,” she says, receiving an indignated glare from Tina. “It took me months to teach her how to make a decent meal. It's unbelievable! A grown woman living off stakeout!”

“She is being dramatic,” Tina waves it off.

“No, she's not,” Nico says, a smirk on her lips.

“I'm being attacked,” Tina says plainly, not even trying to sound affected.

Leslie chuckles. “Oh, you poor thing,” she mocks. “Do you need me to hug it better?”

Nico's eyes bulge out. They aren't even trying to hide their flirting anymore. God, that is even worse than the standing five-feet from each other thing they did before. Can they not? Her young, sensitive ears would be very thankful.

“I don't think that will be necessary,” her mom says, and Leslie, honest to God, _ pouts._ Tina's lips quirk upwards when she clocks it. “Yet,” she adds.

_ Gross_.

She clears her throat, which seems to make them self-conscious, and shakes her head as she turns around and finds Karolina staring at their mothers like they are the primary attraction. She is awfully interested in everything they do. Nico is almost sympathetic. She has been there, when this thing began a few years ago, and she knows how odd it is to observe them, especially when they are so oblivious to everything.

“Anyway,” she says loudly. “I brought you a gift. Happy Mother's Day.”

Tina is caught off guard by her handing her the bag. “Oh. Thank you, Nico. I forgot.”

“Yeah, I could tell when I didn't find you home.”

“Sorry.”

“We all forgot, actually,” Leslie adds.

Nico frowns at the comment. “Then why is Karolina here?”

“She lives here.”

“What?” She turns to the blonde, eyes wide.

“Momentarily, until I find a new home,” Karolina explains. Nico keeps looking at her until she formulates. “Destiny and I broke up.”

“Oh,” Nico stares at her, not knowing what to think about that. She feels… maybe a bit bad for Karolina. But also, a lot relieved, for some reason. She is such a horrible person, especially when she can tell how bad Karolina is feeling by just the look on her face.

“It’s nothing,” Karolina waves it off, however.

“Right.” With her eyes still on Karolina, Nico misses the exasperated look their moms exchange behind her back. She has thousands of questions running through her head, but she doesn't want to come off as noisy. She doesn't even care that much. Her and Karolina haven’t been friends for years. The only explanation Nico has for her curiosity is pure noisiness. However, her curiosity takes her best of her at the end. “How long have you been staying here?” She asks slowly.

“Since Friday,” Karolina answers. “I have the weekend off.”

Nico nods and turns to face her mother, who is very purposely not looking at her. Why hadn't they told her? She shakes her head. It doesn't matter, she repeats to herself. Nico keeps her gaze on Leslie and Tina, trying her best to conceal her resignation. They are a embarrassing, lost in each other's eyes so dopily that Nico wants to give them both a hard swat in the head. How can someone be so oblivious?

Leslie stands up, advancing toward Tina in a way that makes Nico afraid of what they are going to do. She's too young to watch eye-fuck, she doesn't think she'll ever be old enough for that. She's about to pitch her supseptible eyes out with a fork when Leslie stops right in front of her mom, left arm stretching to reach the sugar on the counter behind Tina.

“We are out of sugar,” the blonde woman tells Nico's mom.

She breathes out, but still closed her eyes. Personal space is not a thing anymore, it seems, but it's much better than the alternative.

Karolina jumps out before anyone can say anything, “I’ll go buy some.”

She wishes she could go with her. “I-” she thinks of an excuse to get out of the tension in the room. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she says, not even convincing herself, and she locks herself in the bathroom.

A few minutes later she's about to come out, but stops on her tracks when she hears her mom and Leslie talking.

“I thought that, after a year or two, they would notice,” Tina says. “But, a decade? My God, they're worse than we were.”

“Don’t be grumpy,” Leslie tells her, warm and fond. “Just give them time. I have a good feeling about today.”

“You have good feelings about everything."

“And I'm usually right, aren't I?” Nico can hear the simper in Leslie.

“Need I remind you about the dinner at Robert's?”

“Shut up and kiss me before the girls come back.”

Nico screams inwardly.

“What was that?”

Okay, maybe not so inwardly and very much loudly. She steps out of the bathroom and stares at her mom and Leslie, that look back at her with a mix of worry and confusion.

“Are you okay?” Leslie asks her.

“Did you hurt herself again?” Her mom asks, less worried and more reproving.

“That was one time,” Nico fixes her with a look, then focuses again in what she just found out. “You guys have been together this whole time? You've got to be kidding me.” The older women's eyes widen in surprise, but Nico doesn't give a damn. “All this time. Behind my back. And you never told me! Y’know, I was rooting for you, I was waiting for you to get together _ finally_, and you already were. I mean, really?”

“Wait, you thought…” Her mom shakes her head. “You thought we didn't know.”

“Well, it made more sense than you lying to me,” she snaps.

Tina just scoffs. “Stop being a baby. Our relationship is none of your business.”

“Tina,” Leslie hisses. Tina rolls her eyes. She turns to Nico with a softer expression than her mom did. “We didn't mean to keep anything from you kids,” Nico doesn't bother in telling her that she's a grown ass twenty-seven year-old woman, not a kid, she knows she won't pay attention. “This thing we have, it's really new. We wanted to see if we worked well together first before we went public.”

Nico can't help but laugh. “Are you serious? You guys have been practically married for the last five years.”

Karolina shuts the door behind her and stands still, looking at them with a frown on her face and a bag of sugar in her hands. Nico doesn't spare a look at her, Leslie and Tina just seem resigned and don't give much care to what just happened.

“What is going on?” Karolina says carefully, like she's not sure if she wants to know.

“The cat's out of the bag,” Tina mutters, mostly to Leslie.

The woman snorts. “Nico found out about us,” she tells her daughter.

“Oh,” Karolina nods. “Great. Didn't know you were planning to.”

“Wait a minute,” Nico stares open-mouthed in indignation. “You told _ Karolina _ first?!”

**gert finds out**

“Wow, really?”

Nico nods. “Yeah, I can't believe they didn't tell me. I had to sneak on them like a teenager to find out.”

“They’ve been living together for weeks,” Karolina raises a brow. “How is it that you didn't notice?”

“That’s not the point.”

“I think this is great! For your mom,” Gert clarifies to Nico, scrunching her nose and turning to Karolina. “Leslie deserves better.”

Suddenly, Tina Minoru is in the doorway, leaning against it. “I’m flattered,” she says wryly. “Are you sure you want to be friends with this one, Nico?”

“_Holy shit_, she's here!" Gert shrieks.


End file.
